There could not have been a more serene day for Even to be outside.
It was not typical for the scientist to leave his lab. Actually, one could go so far as to define it as a 'rare occurrence'. The cool confines of his lab were a creature comfort to the academic, and one which he preferred not to sacrifice for the prospect of joining the functioning, social world. No, he would much prefer his work to having to carry a conversation any day. This fact baffled most, but to those who knew him well enough, they would roll their eyes and agree. It was, after all, how Even acted, how he functioned.
But, today had been different. The scent of flowers was overpowering, but not the point of being cloyingly overwhelming. No, it filled the senses with the gentle warmth of spring, the reminder that new life was dutifully brought with the end of seasons. The sun was strikingly warm as it filtered down through the leaves, the vines, lightening their color and casting patterns on to the scientist's form below. He took a few tentative steps forward, a duckling testing new waters.
"So, you've found your way out of the labs?"
Vexen was surprised that his head didn't brush the top of the trellis of vines above him as he jumped in surprise. With wide, shocked eyes, he rounded on the owner of that velvet voice. He knew who it was, of course, but that had never stopped him from the hesitation which the other man was so very adapt at causing. There was a particular quality to the master of flowers which tended to halt the scientist dead in his tracks, and what irked him most was the fact that this aspect could not be pinpointed, let alone named.
Poison green eyes narrowed as he huffed indignantly at the smug smile which answered him from rose petal colored lips. Lumaria was a spectacle to behold, even when dirt coated his arms up to his elbows and there were a few stray leaves sticking out of his silken light red hair. With the sun filtering down on him, casting a golden glow to his sun-bronzed skin, he looked like he could have walked out of a painting. It was very...
Distracting, Even decided. It was actually, oddly enough, part of the reason as to why he currently found himself outside of his labs right now. His mind felt sluggish for the first time in ages. He found it spiraling and wandering as he was trying to prepare the control group for the next set of specimens. No conclusion could ever be reached if his head was not into the endeavor, and his heart was lingering somewhere in between being misled and confused. Because Lumaria was confusing in such a way, with his long lashes which hid passionate eyes, and his soft words which had so very many barbed meanings.
Even felt that his downfall could be by this man. He also felt that he would be damned if he would ever dare to admit it.
Lumaria stepped forward, Even stepped back. Keeping him carefully out of range was more and more so a chore these past few weeks. The man seemed to take a sick amount of delight in personally assaulting the academic's personal bubble with a dogmatic vengeance. Perhaps it was pay back for all of the times Vexen had deemed necessary to harp on and on about rank and manners and other such useless things, now that he took a good look back on those troubled times.
It didn't seem to bother the former assassin though. He looked at Even with that impossibly smug smile, both knowing and unreadable at the same time. Even found more and more these days that being the recipient of such glances rendered his mind blissfully clear, and after a moment of silent staring, he realized his mistake, cursing the other man for managing to distract him yet again from keeping his mentality in check.
Because that was what he was doing in the end, distracting him, so consumingly distracting, it was unnerving.
"Do you like these flowers?" There was something so calmly calculated about the question. His voice was even, his gaze was unfaltering. Even himself, the master of ice, felt frozen. Why had he come here, after all? Why surround one's self with foliage and organic materials? With these smells and these germs and all of this disordered chaos? Even seemed troubled for a shadow of a second until he finally stopped to consider the question. The flowers, this garden, he had felt compelled to come here and there could only be one reason as to why.
"Yes." He heard his voice answer before he realized that he was speaking the truth. It was such a simple admittance, that he enjoyed these gardens. Yes, indeed, they brought him peace of mind and comfort as he reflected on their soft scent, their becoming enclosure of verdant green and yes, their baffling, heartbreakingly beautiful keeper. Lumaria was, essentially, a mystery. There was danger beneath all of that distracting perfection, that velvet voice hid words of a secret meaning. He was a threat, and yet, it was so hard to consider him as such when he was smiling like that: so easily and calmly, surrounded by his flourishing gardens.
"That's good." Came the response along with an easy smile. Was that relief in his eyes, or perhaps just the subtle hint of exhaustion after a long day's work? "This garden, in particular, is for you." Even quirked an eyebrow at him, clearly disbelieving. "It's the perfect setting for studying. The herbs and flowers are all extremely mild in nature and scent The sun filters through at just the angle to light the pages of all of those dusty old scientific journals."
"Is this some sort of joke?" Even interrupted before Lumaria could continue elaborating. He seemed serious by the way that his eyes bored into the other, not in anger but in subtle confusion, almost as though he could peer into the other's mind and pluck out the truth. Lumaria's brown knit in response.
"What reason have I to joke about this?" He muttered, noting as the other man tore his eyes away to stare rather pointedly at his feet, casting his cornsilk colored hair in a curtain about his face. He seemed frozen in place, absolutely statuesque until he finally seemed prepared to speak.
"I have never received a gift before." Even's response was tight, monotone and so carefully soft, as though keeping old, harmful memories at bay with simply the tone of his voice. Logically, by the time, all statistics should have pointed to the fact that he really had gotten some sort of token off appreciation by this much older time in his life. It was only logical, after all. Yet his childhood had not quite been what one might consider conventional, and Ansem in his younger years was anything but 'lenient', if he could recall correctly. Lumaria heard a small sigh which knocked Even from his reverie and in a heartbeat of a moment, particularly because that sigh was so very close to him now, his warm breath tickling the pale skin of his neck.
Lumaria was right before him, staring at him with an intense curiosity and strange concern. He reached out a hand, taking the scientists' hand in his own. He said no words, and yet there it was again, that unreadable smile. Even finally felt fit enough to glance back up again. The view was only Lumaria. Yes, it was breathtaking.
"That's good. I'm your first then."